Report Reveals Why Clay Helton Received Lower Grade than Steve Sarkisian in Coaches Rankings

No. 48

"Clay Helton: Helton's stock is fascinating to chart when it comes to our rankings. USC went 5-1 last season, reached the Pac-12 title game ... and he falls seven spots in the rankings. If you look at his overall record at USC (45-23 with a conference title), there's no way he should be ranked this low, but that's not how it's viewed. Helton's performance is compared to what a coach's record at USC should be. He hasn't done enough in the minds of our voters. 2020 rank: 41 (-7)" [CBS SPORTS]

No. 46

"Steve Sarkisian: So, how about this spot for Sark? He was 46-35 in seven seasons at Washington and USC, and he hasn't been a head coach since 2015, but he starts out in our rankings two spots ahead of the man who replaced him at USC. And you can argue that Sark was more underwhelming at USC than Helton has been! Of course, it's easy to understand why given he's coming off an extremely successful stint as Alabama's offensive coordinator and was a surprise hire. 2020 rank: n/a" [CBS SPORTS]

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Other Pac-12 coaches to grace the poll were Arizona's Jed Fisch at No. 64, WSU's Nick Rolovich at No.58, Oregon State's Jonathan Smith at No. 56, Colorado's Karl Dorrell at No. 54, Washington's Jimmy Lake at No. 51, UCLA's Chip Kelly at No. 39, and Cal's Justin Wilcox at No. 38.

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